Wah-Wah Pedals

I doubt he used anything uncommon, probably just a meat and potatoes Vox or Crybaby of the time.

Mason is one of the best at using a wah pedal, very controlled and expressive.

I have three wahs. The one on my pedalboard is an original Thomas Organ Crybaby that I bought in 1973 after the VOX I had was stolen. Those pedals were very different sounding. I do run a slight boost at the beginning of my pedalboard, and the Crybaby has a nice, throaty tone that is perfect for rock.

I also have a new Crybaby Classic and a new Vox Clyde McCoy. Again very different. The Crybaby is close to my TO wah, but definitely cleaner sounding. The TO has a bit of raspiness that the CC is missing. (Maybe it's just showing its age!) The CC is still a good overall choice for rock. The Vox though, would be my first choice for funk "Shaft" style rhythm playing. It is bright, crisp and clean--not as vocal as the TO or the CC.

I love Clapton's wah work on "White Room", and Stephen Stills is another master of this effect. But my favorite of all might be the late Terry Kath of Chicago. He was a ferocious wah player and a terrific guitarist.

Hope you find something you like...

Bill

The Boomerang Wah(BG-1,BG-2) was also popular back in the day.

I've no idea about Dave Mason's wah, but could I ask a related question?
Does anyone have experience of a wah that is really deep and throaty, not a toppy and slicy Shaft sound, but right down in male vocal range?
I hear of a US maker called Wilson (?) who may make something fat sounding, but no idea if this is correct.
I just love some of Greg Leisz's wah sounds with lap steel (National Dynamic?) and pedal too, and mostly it's the polar opposite of the Shaft thing, right down in human head / voice resonance areas, and very expressive.
I've been seriously off wah ever since the 70's when it got ridiculously overdone as a production / marketing thing, but this has got me interested again, most probably as an accessory to a fat slide sound.

Geoffrey Teese does some pretty cool wah stuff for the modern age.
http://www.realmccoycustom.com/

You can actually call him and talk wah pedals. I have an RMC-LE and I love it. Totally adjustable to anything I want to play.

Just my .00002 cents.

Zippy

I just love some of Greg Leisz's wah sounds with lap steel (National Dynamic?) and pedal too, and mostly it's the polar opposite of the Shaft thing, right down in human head / voice resonance areas, and very expressive.

Dang Nick,

Yesterday, I saw Greg with Bill Frisell play at Jazz Alley here and had some conversation with him. If I would have know your question sooner, I could have asked him what he is using. Dang again!

- Jos
P.S. Fabulous set though. They played tunes from the '60 among them: 'Turn Turn Turn', 'In My Room', and 'Rumble'. Amazing!

Zippy, thanks! Encouraging. I'll look into his.

And Jos, you lucky man! Bet that was a good night's music, those two do the musical equivalent of finishing each others' sentences. I remember reading a quote of Bill Frisell's to the effect that "Greg plays the way he does because of who he is, just such a nice guy"..... I hope they're having as much fun as it sounds.

Nick, you should check out some of the Dunlop Wahs, some of the newer ones have deeper sweeps--check out the Zakk Wilde, Hendrix and Bonamassa pedals for a start. Then I think it is the 535Q that has a six position rotary switch that allows you to adjust for that. You can sometimes move the pedal track on the gear, and that changes the range of motion available on the sweep. My VOX Clyde McCoy is that slicy Shaft sound.

I've always wanted to try the BBE Wah--I hear it is a good one.

Bill

I've always wanted to try the BBE Wah--I hear it is a good one.

Bill

I have a Zen Wah on my board, except for the traditionnal scratchy pots, it is excellent. Played at home it sounds average, a bit like a cross between a Cry B and a vox, but played in a band, it is spot on on the right frequencies to be heard. When the Q control is set to max, it sounds almost like an envelope filter (almost...), when fully counter CW, it sounds like a Cry Baby.

it's a good wah, not stellar, but it does the job, and is true bypass.

If you have a few minutes this is an interesting documentary on the invention of the wah pedal.

[youtube]A0A8cPj_fPo[/youtube]


Here is a sample of the BBE Zen. I think the shot of the socked foot with the sound is a riot.

[youtube]wmZyYKJhfIA[/youtube]

The BBE sounds good. But I'm still after something unusually deep and guttural.
I'm inclined to try Teese's "everything adjustable" model.
And I'll make it a little acrylic cover to keep the dust and coffee (and sock-fluff) out when I've done setting it!

Salmon,

I enjoyed the youtube video. Geoffrey Teese explains all the research he did following the Thomas Organ thing to Italy and tracking down engineers and designers. Pretty interesting stuff.

Zippy

Salmon,

I enjoyed the youtube video. Geoffrey Teese explains all the research he did following the Thomas Organ thing to Italy and tracking down engineers and designers. Pretty interesting stuff.

Zippy

The BBE sounds good. But I'm still after something unusually deep and guttural.

This may be overkill, but if you have a Moog dealer nearby you could try an MF-101 Low Pass Filter with an expression pedal. It's not a traditional wah sound (being low pass rather than a notch filter), but it will definitely be dark and deep.

Ken

Thanks, I'll try that too!

My two cents...er, pedals:

Both the new AMT "Japanese Girl" Wah and discontinued Tech21 Killer Wail have a three way switch that adjusts the range of the wah downward. Actually, the AMT WH-1 had a think and chewy sound like a good envelope filter which I liked. Overall it's a very reliable piece gear, and works well with fuzz thanks to the op-amp in the circuit.

The Killer Wail is similar, but smoother and more traditional, but its "Extended" setting had a fatness and presence effective for cutting through bass and drums. It also works well with a fuzz in this mode, too.

Incidently, I'm going to get rid of both because neither one satisfies like my black-label Budda. That's probably exactly the sound you're NOT seeking, though.

My 70's Morley Power Wah (in clean mode) has a voicing that gets deep , and it's optical so it's liquid smooth.
You need to keep some of those little T10 flashlight bulbs around.
The sweep is 'adjustable' but it entails moving a little black piece of paper
slightly so the light hits the opto-recieiver with a different envelope .
They aren't small ..but nice to have one around when nothing else will do .

Perhaps it was a color sound wah. Those were popular at that time. RMC makes one that approximates that sound.

RickT

What are your solder-slinging skills like? You could get a wah that's close to what you want and mod it. Somewhere like DIY stompboxes would be a good place to go for advice on which parts of the circuit to fiddle with.
Not the best idea if you need an out-of-the-box solution quickly, but if you want it exactly the way you like, there's no substitute for DIY

I've always wanted to try the BBE Wah--I hear it is a good one.

Bill

I LOVE my BBE.. I have to get the new pot in that BBE sent me (Free I might add).. It's very vintage sounding to me... lots of WAHHHHH

Mark